Safety attachment for street-cars and the like.



T. G. SAMUEL.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR STREET CARS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED rm. 8, 1913.

1,097,472. Patented May 19, 1914.

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T. G. SAMUEL. SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR STREET GARS AND THE LIKE.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 8, 1913. v

- Patented May 19, 1914.

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Inventor Attorneys TUWTFEECK (1 SAMUEL, OF PORTLAND, QREGQTM SAFETYATTACHMENT FOR STILEETQARS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed February 8, 1913.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 319, inlet.

Serial No. 747,18?

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, 'iowrnnon Gr. SAMUEL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county ofMultnomah and State of @regon, have invented a new and useful SafetyAttachment for Street-Oars and the like, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to safety attachments for cars, one of itsobjects being to provide a tender normally held retracted under thefront end of the car and which is adapted to be released by anobstruction in the path thereof and to be automatically projected, whenreleased, so as to move close to the ground and against or under theobstruction.

A further object is to provide improved means for releasing the fender,said means including a bumper which is normally supported in front ofthe tender and which will be first contacted by the obstruction without,however, producing any injury thereto.

Another object is to provide novel means for automatically locking thefender when it is drawn back to retracted position and for also lockingthe fender automatically after it has been projected to active position.

A further object is to provide a cushioning means upon the front of thecar and above the tender and with which the ob strnction adapted tocontact.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, itbeing understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In. the accompanying drawings the pre- :tcrrcd form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings:-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a carhaving the present improvements combined therewith, the fender beingshown in its normal or retracted position. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection through a portion oi the car. the fender being shown in plan andprojected to active position. Fig. 3 is a section on line A B fig. 2,the fender being shown in elevation.

4 is a plan view or the tender and adacent parts, the arcuate guide barbeing removed but its position being indicated by dotted lines. 5 is afront elevation of the bracket employed for guiding the tender in itsmovement. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the draw bar and the link used inconnection therewith.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference E designates aportion of a car structure. Arranged on the front face of the front ordash-board F of the car are outstanding supporting eyes 1 arranged inpairs and located adjacent the sides of the car. These eyes are designedto receive hooks 2 extending from the ends of an arcuate metalliccushion 3 made up of lattice work formed of resilient bands of metalsuch as spring steel, brass or the like. This cushion extends in frontor a portion of the dash-board and downwardly close to an arcuate guiderail which is arranged under the dash-board, as shown at 4; and issecured, at its ends, upon blocks 5 in which grooves or recesses 6 areformed. These blocks are fixedly connected to the front portion of thecar structure at the sides thereof and in any suitable manner.

Extending under and fixedly secured to the middle portion of the arcuateguide plate is the front end of a guide bar 7 which is preferablyangular in cross sec-- tional contour and is supported, at its rear end,by a yoke 8 extending downwardly from the center of a bracket 9 which isbolted or otherwise secured to the bottom of the car body. A spool 10 isjournaled within the yoke 8 and above the bar 7 and is for the purposehereinafter set forth.

Extending upwardly through the guide bar 7 near its front end and backoi the adjacent portion oi. the guide strip 4 is a passage 11 in which ablock 12 is mounted to slide, this block having a locking pin 13projecting downwardly from its lower end. Block 12 is loosely engaged byone arm 14 of a bell. crank lever 15, this lever being fulcrurned withina recess 16 in bar 7 and having an upwardly and rearwardly eX- tendingarm 17 which extends toward the bottom of the car body E and directlyunder the lower end of a shifting rod 18 which is slidably mountedwithin and extends upwardly from the bottom of the car body at a pointwhere it can be convr-rniently actuated by a foot of the motorman. Aspring 19 is employed for holding rod 18 normally elevated, as shown inFig. 3. This rod has a foot plate 20 at its upper end and an enlargement21 at its lower end, said enlargement being adapted, when rod 18 ispushed downwardly, to move against the arm 17 of the bell crank leverand thus depress said arm and cause arm 14 to move upwardly, therebylifting the locking pin 13. A spring 22 is interposed between arm 17 andthe bar 7 and serves to hold said arm 17 normally elevated. This arm,however, does not normally contact with the enlargement 21 but, instead,is spaced therefrom so as to permit a draw bar, such as indicated at 23and which is pivotally connected to the car at 24, to swing laterallybetween the arm 17 and the rod 18. This draw bar is used for couplingpurposes and any suitable form of coupler may be used in connectiontherewith. It is to be understood that when the hooks 2 are inengagement with the uppermost eyes 1, the cushion 3 will be supportedabove the path of the draw bar 23.

An angular sleeve 25 is slidably mounted on the bar 7 and is normallycontacted by one end of a coiled spring 26 which is mounted on the bar 7and bears at its other end against the yoke 8. Thus the spring serves tohold sleeve 25 normally pressed toward the front end of bar 7 A leafspring 27 is secured to the bottom of the sleeve 25 and extendsforwardly therefrom, the free end of this spring being downturned andthere being an opening 28 in the spring adapted to receive pin 13 whenthe sleeve 25 is in its normal or foremost position. Another leaf spring29 extends downwardly from the sleeve 25 and bears upon the uppersurface of the fender body 30 which, as shown in the drawings, ispreferably made up of an arcuate front bar 31, parallel side arms 32, asegmental rear cross plate 33, and interlaced strips 34 of spring metal,such as steel, brass or the like, said strips being riveted or otherwisesecured to the bars 31 and 32 and to the plate 33. The side bars 32 ofthe fender body are guided between the blocks 5 so as thus to be heldagainst lateral displacement. Ears 35 extend upwardly from the rearportion of the segmental plate 33 and are pivotally connected to ears 36extending from the ends of a cross bar 37, this bar being integral withor secured to the sleeve 25. A rod 38 extends transversely within thefender body near the front end thereof and has rollers 39 mountedthereon, these rollers being adapted to contact with the ground and thussupport the fender body close to but out of contact with the ground. Anopening 40 is formed in the middle portion of the fender body adjacentthe front thereof and is adapted, when the fender body is retractedunder the car, to

receive the locking pin 13, the fender body being thus held retractedand with spring 26 under stress.

Pivotally connected to the guide strip 4 adjacent the sides of the carand as shown at 41, are arcuate bumper plates 42 which extend in frontof and below the guide strip 4 and are provided at their inner orforward ends with tongues 43 resting on the front end of the bar 7 andin front of the upwardly extending portion of arm 17. These bumperplates 42 have cushions 44 of any suitable material upon their frontfaces, these cushions being supported in front of the guide strip 4 andlikewise in front of the cushion 3 and in front of the fender body whensaid body is in its retracted position.

A yoke 45 is connected to and extends rearwardly from the fender bodyand has a chain, cable or other suitable flexible connection 46 securedthereto, this connection extending under the spool 10 and thenceupwardly to another spool 47 carried by the car body. From this spoolthe connection extends forward to a drum 48 which is secured to androtates with a shaft 49 extending upwardly from the floor of the car ata point where it can be easily actuated by the motorman. A crank arm 50may be connected to the upper end of shaft- 49 to facilitate therotation thereof and a ratchet wheel 51 can be secured to the shaft 49,this ratchet wheel being normally engaged by a pawl 52.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent, that by rotating theshaft 49, the connection 46 can be wound on the drum 48, and may thuspull on the yoke 45, so as to draw the fender body rearwardly and slidethe sleeve 25 toward the yoke 8, thereby compressing the spring 26. Whenthe fender body has been brought back to a predetermined position, thepin 13 will become seated within the opening 40, thus locking the fenderin its rearmost position. It is to be understood, of course, that thefender cannot be pulled backwardly until pin 13 has been lifted out ofengagement with spring 27. This actuation of the pin can be efi'ected bydepressing arm 17 by means of the rod 18. Vvhen the fender is locked inretracted position it will remain in such position until released. Thisrelease can be effected either by pushing downwardly on rod 18 so as todepress arm 17 and thus lift pin 13 out of opening 40, or can beeffected by an obstruction contacting with either of the bumpers 44.When either bumper is pushed rearwardly, the tongue 43 thereof willpress against arm 17 and cause the bell crank lever 15 to lift pin 13out of engagement with the fender body. Thus spring 26 will be broughtinto play promptly and will shift the fender body forwardly until spring:27 is brought into engagement with pin 13., During this forwardmovement of the fender body spring 15 presses it downwardly so as tohold the wheels or rollers 39 in contact with the ground. it is to beiuiderstood, of course, that atter the fender body has been retractedand locked, the pawl 52 should be disengaged from the ratchet wheel 51so that, when the bumper is pushed rearwardly so as to unlock the fenderbody, the automatic forward projec tion of said tender body will not beinterfered with by the pawl and the ratchet. During the forward movementof the fender body the obstruction in the path of the car will be causedto fall onto said body and, if thrown against the cushion 3, will not besubjected to severe injury. In order to hold the bumper plates inposition at their forward ends, guide pins 53 are extended from strip 4and into slots 54L in the plates, as shown.

As shown in. Fig. 1 a suitable wheel guard 55 may be hingedly connectedas at 56 to the side of the car, the same being held in place in anysuitable manner, as by means of a latch shown generally at 57. Inasmuchas this wheel guard and its secur ing means constitute no part of thepresent invention, itis not deemed necessary to enter into a detaileddescription thereof.

The draw bar 23 is provided with a detachable link 68 whereby two carscan be coupled together.

What is claimed is 1. The combination with a car structure, of a fendermovably mounted thereunder, bumpers in front of the structure andadapted to project forwardly beyond the fender when said fender isretracted, said bumpers being extended toward opposite sides of the carrespectively from the center, means for locking the tender in retractedposition, means operated by either bumper when rought into contact withan obstruction for unlocking the fender, means for automaticallyprojecting the fender forwardly when unlocked, means movable with thetender and cooperating with said locking means for automaticallysecuring the tender in projected position, and means under the controlof a person on the car for unlocking the tender when projected.

2. The combination with a car structure, of a tender movably mountedthereunder, bumpers in front of the structure and adapted to projectforwardly beyond the fender when said fender is retracted, means forlooking the fendr in retracted position, means operated by either bumperwhen brought into contact with an obstruction for unlocking the fender,means for automatically projecting the fender forwardly when unlocked,means movable with the fender and cooperating with said locking meansfor automatically securing the tender in projected position, andseparate means under the control of a person upon the car for unlockingthe tender when in projected position and for re t acting said tender.

3. The combination with a car structure and an arcuate guide stripsecured there under, of a tender, a guide bar connected to the structureand guide strip, sleeves slidable on the bar, a hinged connectionbetween the sleeve and the tender, means interposed between the tenderand sleeve for shifting one end portion of the fender into contact withthe ground, a locking device carried by the bar, means connected to thesleeve for engaging said device for holding the tender in projectedposition, a spring upon the bar for automatically projecting the tenderand sleeve toward one end of the car, means upon the tender for engagingsaid locking device to hold the tender in retracted position and thespring under stress, and means for actuating the locking device torelease the fender when in either projected or retracted position.

4. The combination with a car structure and an arcuate guide stripsecured there under, of a tender, a guide bar connected to the structureand guide strip, a sleeve slidable on the bar, a hinged connectionbetween the sleeve and the fender, means interposed between the tenderand sleeve for shifting one end portion of the fender into contact withthe ground, a locking device carried by the bar, means connected to thesleeve for engaging said device to hold the fender in projectedposition, a spring upon the bar for automatically projecting the tenderand sleeve toward one end of the car, means upon the tender for engagingsaid locking device to hold the tender in retracted position and thespring under stress, a bumper movably connected to the guide strip, andmeans actuated thereby when brought into contact with an obstruction foractuating the locking device to release the fender when in retractedposition.

5. The combination with a car structure and an arcuate guide stripsecured thereunder, of a tender, a guide bar connected to the structureand guide strip, a sleeve slidable on the bar, a hinged connectionbetween the sleeve and the fender, means interposed between the tenderand sleeve for shifting one end portion of the fender into contactwiththe ground, a locking device carried by the bar, means connected to thesleeve for engaging said device to hold the fender in projectedposition, a spring upon the bar for automatically projecting the tenderand sleeve toward one end of the car, means upon the fender for engagingsaid locking device to hold the tender in retracted position and thespring under stress, a bumper movahly connected to the guide strip,means actuated thereby when broughtinto contact with an obstruct-ion,for actuating the look ing device to release the fender when inretracted position, a Winding device upon the structure, and meansactuated thereby for retracting the tender and placing the spring understress.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,I). G. 7

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